// Overseas travel blog

This last weekend has been a bit einsam (lonely). I was told by one of my best mates before I left home that it was a good challenge to learn to be content by yourself. ‘Oh that’s fine!’ I said. ‘I’m cool with spending time alone.’ ‘Yeah,’ they said, ‘but there’s a difference between choosing to spend some time by yourself, and physically having no other option i.e. it is not your choice, and still being OK with that.’ So such it went that I spent Friday and Saturday night solo when all I wanted to do was get a bunch of mates together, sink a bottle of red and head somewhere for dinner, drinks and some music. It only rubs salt in the wound when you live on one of Friedrichshain’s entertainment streets and when every additional inch that your bedroom window is pushed open delivers an extra decibel of noise from groups of revellers out having fun.

I chose not to have a pity party, and cracked a bottle of red regardless. I took joy in the fact that it was a nice oaky tasting 2013 Bordeaux that had set me back no more than 4 euro. At the same time I was texting a mate from home so I had some semblance of company. While they were just getting up in the morning to start their Sunday, I was sitting at my desk at 9:30pm on a Saturday night trying to decide what to do to entertain myself. I contemplated heading out by myself to find some music, and threw the idea out there. I got the reply, ‘Do it, Loz! You’re in Germany!’ So without further ado, and with another glass of red while I got ready, I made the call to head out. Besides, there was a bar I’d been wanting to check out, and it was only 10 minutes away so I had no good excuse not to.

After a quick train journey, I arrived at the venue and walked in to what was an odd-shaped, smoky conglomerate of bar, lounge bar, dancefloor and ping pong room. I bought a beer and went for a wander. No-one on the dancefloor: too early. A couple of spots on the lounge, near big groups with jackets and bags strewn across them: likely saving for an extra friend. Ping pong room with people standing, sitting, or playing ping pong. I settled on the ping pong room and found a spot on a lounge in the corner.

The music was dull inside the room, and you could hear the constant twanging of ping pong ball on the wooden table. Rather than two people playing each other, the game went like this: whoever had a racquet (15 or so people!) walked quickly in an anticlockwise direction around the table. As they got to the playing edge, they’d do a quick hit of the ball over the net, and then move on in time for the person behind to make the next return. It went on like this until someone stuffed their shot up, and then they were eliminated. The circle continued along until the number of participants became smaller and smaller, and the remaining ones had to run and race to make each shot. When the third last person was eliminated, the remaining two were entitled to a match, which would decide the ultimate winner. All this was occurring at 1 o’clock in the morning. Everything was so orderly. Everyone was so sensible. It was all just so German. ​I lasted another 20 minutes, spent sitting in another room listening to the music and watching a couple of unenthused swayers on the dancefloor before calling it. It was not a very fun night and was pretty awkward chilling relatively sober at a club by yourself at 1 o’clock in the morning. Uncomfortable really. But I remember a quote that goes along the lines of ‘the people who are most successful are those that are willing to put themselves in a great number of uncomfortable situations. So I’ll run with that, and at least now I can tick off that I’ve seen the bizarrely in-control Friday night club scene at this place that I had been wanting to check out.